Steelbound to Open Niagara Falls Location on May 12
Steelbound Brewery & Distillery are expanding their Western New York footprint with a new location in Niagara Falls at the Sheraton Niagara Falls on Old Falls Street, which is set to open May 12. The brewery and distillery will take over the former TGIFridays space with indoor seating for more than 120 and patio seating for 80 outside on Old Falls Street. Steelbound plans to hire 80-100 employees for the new space. While they will feature wings, burgers and other handhelds, on-site brewing isn’t expected to begin in time for its first season. Steelbound has locations in Ellicottville, Dunkirk, Springville, Williamsville and Las Vegas.
Buffalo Beer League CollaBEERation Ticket Giveaway
The Buffalo Beer League has teamed up with the Buffalo Beer Geeks to give away a pair of general admission tickets (a $140 value) to the sixth annual CollaBEERation Festival, which takes place April 25 at the Powerhouse. To enter, simply watch or listen to the latest WNY Brews podcast, a CollaBEERation preview episode hosted by Buffalo Beer Geek Scott Panfil, and answer this question – what two breweries did Paul and Scott collaBEERate with for 2026? Post your answer in the comments to the contest post on BBL’s social pages and a random winner will be chosen on Monday, April 20. The deadline to enter is noon. If you don’t win, general admission tickets ($70, including unlimited pours and a commemorative glass) can be purchased here.
Farmcraft Brewery Releases First Beer
Strykersville’s Farmcraft Brewery has finally released their first beer – Ripe IPA. This 6% hazy IPA features notes of fresh-squeezed citrus, ripe peach, melon, and tropical fruit. It’s brewed with oats and wheat for a soft mouthfeel, then double dry-hopped with Citra Cryo, Mosaic, Riwaka, and Simcoe hops. Ripe IPA is available in 16oz. 4-packs cans to go and on draft at the taproom.
Flying Bison Homecoming at Mr. Goodbar
After a successful relaunch at Hamburg Brewing, Flying Bison is bringing their Homecoming Tour to Mr. Goodbar on April 23 (4pm). Flying Bison’s Buffalo Lager and Rusty Chain Vienna Lager will be available on draft, there will be an exclusive cask feature, a limited, brewery-exclusive pour, at 4 pm, free pint glasses to everyone who orders a Flying Bison draft beer (while supplies last) and a prize raffle for a Flying Bison Prize Pack, which includes a Flying Bison cooler, 5 Buffalo Bisons flex tickets, gift card, t-shirts, pint glasses, koozies, and stickers. The event is free to attend and open to the public.
Brickyard Brewing Brews IPA, Lager for Wingnutz
The next time you stop into Wingnutz Bar & Grill (1402 Millersport Hwy., Williamsville) for a few orders of chicken wings, make sure you grab pints of Wingnutz IPA and Lager, both brewed by Brickyard Brewing, to go with them. Wingnutz IPA is a hazy IPA that features big notes of juicy tropical fruit and sweet citrus and Wingnutz Lager is crisp and bready with herbal, citrusy hop notes. Both beers are brewed to pair with wings. Wingnutz IPA and Lager are available on draft and in cans to go.
Perry’s, Southern Tier Sip & Scoop Cheat Day Giveaway
Perry’s Ice Cream and Southern Tier Brewing are joining forces on the Sip & Scoop Cheat Day Giveaway, which features prizes such as six pints of Perry’s Cheat Day Ice Cream, Perry’s ice cream scoop, two Perry’s pilsner glasses, $50 Southern Tier gift card and Southern Tier merchandise ($100 value). Entering is free and all you have to do is follow Perry’s and Southern Tier on Instagram, like the contest post and tag a friend. The contest ruins through April 21 and the winners will be notified on or after April 22 via the official Perry’s Instagram account. Cheat Day is the latest collaboration between Perry’s and Southern Tier – an 8.6% dessert beer that features notes of vanilla, brownie batter, cookie dough and brown sugar.
New Thin Man Lager Benefits New York Waterways
Thin Man Brewery has teamed up with Trout Unlimited-Northeast on River Bank Lager, a collaborative new beer brewed with New Zealand-grown Waimea and Motueka hops, to “raise awareness and encourage action in making our water cleaner, our communities healthier and our fisheries stronger.” The beer will be released April 18 (3 pm) at Chandler Street Breweries with raffles for fishing gear, guided trips, books and more, and proceeds supporting the conservation efforts of WNY Trout Unlimited. River Bank Lager is “incredibly light and drinkable,” according to the brewery.
Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on X (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).
